(~Nothing Like This Feeling~)
by Scrat with a G
Summary: Jamie finds someone that makes him finally feel complete, but, just like in any other romance, there are bumps along the road. Will this one cause him to lose the love of his life permanently?
1. Rusty

**__**

¤~Nothing Like This Feeling~¤

by Scrat with a G

Chapter One

__

(a/n_: This is Jamie's story. Sooner or later, it will be summer again, and the writers will have more teen romances to attract teenagers like me, which means Jamie probably will get a girlfriend. But until then, here's this. BTW, this plays off of April 17th's episode.)_

Jamie waited at the top of the stairs until his mother and father left. Once they were both safely out of sight, Jamie grabbed his coat and left the house. He needed to clear his head. He didn't know where he was going; he was just walking where his legs were taking him.

A couple minutes later, Jamie found himself walking through the park. Sighing, he slumped onto a park bench.

"Oh, hello, there."

Jamie jumped, startled. He looked at the speaker – a girl about his age. He had been so deep in thought that he hadn't even noticed she was there.

"Are you all right?" the girl asked. Jamie didn't say anything; he just looked at his feet. "Wait a second… I recognize you! Your name is Jamie, right? We go to the same school."

Jamie looked up at her. She had green eyes and blonde hair. She was wearing orange cargo pants and a black sweatshirt. _I don't remember her from anywhere_…

"You probably don't recognize me," the girl continued. "I just started school here about a week ago when I moved here with my family. My name is… well, my _real_ name is none of your business, 'cause I'll kill you if you call my by my first name, but you can call me Rusty. Or Squeej," she added thoughtfully. "That's what everyone back in my old town used to call me."

Still Jamie said nothing.

"Dood, do you like not talk or something?"

Jamie sighed.

"I had a practically-life-threatening episode with Vanessa Cortlandt a few days ago, and I'm still a little…" he paused, searching for the right word. "Shaken."

"Vanessa Cortlandt?" Rusty repeated. Jamie saw her clench her fists slightly.

"Yeah, you know her?" Jamie replied with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

"She… she killed my dad," she said quietly. "Or one of her little minions did, anyway."

"Oh."

There was a silence.

"I should be going," Jamie announced awkwardly. "It was nice meeting you, Riley."

"Rusty," she corrected him.

"Right… Rusty… mmkay." He stood up. "I guess I'll… see you around then…"

"Mmhmm."

Jamie thrust his hands in his pockets again and walked off.

(a/n: _You like? ^^ Now see that review button down there? Click that and review. I don't care if you just type "hi," as long as you review…!)_


	2. Reoccurring Run-Ins

**__**

¤~Nothing Like This Feeling~¤

by Scrat with a G

Chapter Two

The next day, at school, our hero (a/n: lol) was wandering the halls alone before his first class. He was spacing out, not thinking about anything, when he slammed right into someone.

"Huh? Oh, sorry-" he began.

"Oh, don't worry about it, it was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going."

Jamie looked up. It was the same girl from the park yesterday. Ruby or Ritzy or whatever her name was.

"Yeah… right…"

He shook his head and walked past her as the bell rang.

He took his regular seat in the back of Mr. Henry's History class. Just as the teacher was about to start babbling on about the Civil War (a/n: zZzZzZzZz), Dr. Noddings, the principal, popped inside.

"Hey, Mike," he said to Mr. Henry.

"Hey, Joe! Whaddya need?"

Dr. Noddings stepped forward and whispered something to Mr. Henry. Jamie tried his hardest not to fall asleep before class was even fifteen minutes through. Just as his eyelids were starting to droop, Mr. Henry's loud voice boomed at the students, startling him out of his almost-sleep.

"Guess what, my little geniuses!" Mr. Henry announced. "We have a new student. She was on the other team for the last week, but Dr. Noddings moved her onto this team, because Ms. Scott and Ms. Sekreta's classes weren't challenging her enough." He rubbed his hands maliciously. "Oh goody, another student for me to torture…" Some of the kids laughed. "Did I say torture? I meant teach…"

Dr. Noddings had disappeared to retrieve the new student, and just then ushered her inside. It was the girl from the park. (a/n: Oh, come on, don't act so surprised, you knew it would be.)

"Girls and boys," the principal said, placing his hands on her shoulders. She looked like she wanted to smack him, but she endured it. "This is" – someone dropped their book as he said her first name – "McCartney."

"Rusty," she corrected him with a menacing scowl, one that clearly said, _If anyone ever calls me by my real first name ever again, I will feed them to Legolas Greenleaf. _(a/n: Heh heh… I crack myself up…)

"You can have the seat in the back there next to Jamie, Rusty," Mr. Henry offered as Dr. Noddings left the room.

"Thank you." She walked to the back of the room and sat next to Jamie. "Hey there," she whispered.

"…Hi."

"What are you discussing in here?"

"Civil War."

"Oh… have you gotten to the Battle of Gettysburg yet?"

"No."

"How far are you?"

"First Battle of Bull Run."

"My, aren't we talkative."

"Shut up before we get in trouble for talking."

"Touchy, touchy… sorry…" She settled back in her seat and examined her pencil while Mr. Henry babbled on about General Lee and blah blah blah.

When the bell (finally) rang, Jamie began gathering his books up. Rusty hung back for a moment.

"So, Jamie, what classes do you have?" she asked. Jamie sighed and looked up at her.

"Rademacher, Hoskins, Nyberg, Frank, and Barnard."

"Hmm… I've got Rademacher, Hoskins, Frank, Davis, Stewart," she replied, peering down at her schedule.

"That's fabulous," Jamie replied tonelessly. He picked up his books and walked briskly out of the classroom.

"Jamie!" Rusty shouted. She chased after him and easily caught up to him, since she was running. "What the hell is your problem?"

"What?"

"What is your problem? I'm trying to be nice to you, and all I get is sarcasm and one-word answers," she yelled.

Jamie sighed and looked at his shoes. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm just not used to girls paying attention to me like this."

"Get used to it."

"I'm trying, cause there's sure as hell no way I can get rid of you."

"Thanks, I love you too." She rolled her eyes. Jamie looked at her for a minute, then turned and went off to his next class.

a/n: _See? I made a new chapter, just for you, because I love you all just so much._


	3. Mr. Traditional Goes to the Dance

**_¤~Nothing Like This Feeling~¤  
_**by Scrat with a G  
Chapter Three

It was about a week later. Jamie was sitting on the same bench he had met Rusty at only a week or so before. He was staring into space, just chilling after a long day of school when the blonde-haired girl appeared before him. She smiled and wrapped her jacket tighter around herself.  
"Don't you have anything better to do than stalk me?" Jamie asked, annoyed.  
"Well, I was just going to ask you if you had a date for the dance," Rusty replied calmly, sitting next to him casually. _That's right_, Jamie remembered. _There's a dance next Friday. But does she want to go with me? And if she does, then why?_  
"No, not yet," Jamie replied, trying with all his might to not say something sarcastic. "Why?"  
"I was wondering if you wanted to go with me," Rusty said. She looked up at him, casual as ever.  
_Sure, why not…_ Jamie thought. _Its not like I've got anyone better to go with… Brittany's going with Kevin, and Shayla's going with Michael…_  
"Don't the guys usually ask the girls, not the other way around?" Jamie asked skeptically, unable to hold back the sarcastic comments.  
"Has that ever stopped me before?" Rusty raised an eyebrow.  
"I wouldn't know."  
Rusty sighed. "Fine, would _you_ like to ask _me_ then, Mr. Traditional?"  
"All right, I will, then," he replied. "Would you like to go to the dance on Friday with me, Rusty?"  
"Yes, Jamie, I would," Rusty answered. She grinned. The wind tossed her blonde hair a little. "Well, that's all I needed. I'll see you at school tomorrow." She smiled at him and walked off.  
"Um… bye?"

**~*~**

That Friday, only three days later, Jamie found himself standing outside Rusty's apartment door, waiting for her to come out. He was wearing a new pair of khaki cargos and a bright yellow shirt that read in black letters, _CaFFeiNe_, which was the brand of the shirt. For some reason, Jamie had felt the desperate urge to buy new clothes for this particular dance, which was odd, because normally, for dances Jamie wore the oldest, grungiest clothes he could find in his closet, just to annoy his peers.  
Sighing, Jamie knocked again. Rusty swung open the door. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a bright yellow tanktop (not the spaghetti strap kind – the kind with the thicker straps).  
"Sorry about that," she said. "My sister just _had_ to ask me where I was going."  
"It's cool," Jamie assured her. "Shall we?"  
"We shall."  
Jamie led her down the steps to the parking lot, where his mother was waiting in her car. He opened the door and let her slide in first, then he got in and shut the door. His mother started up the car and they drove away.  
"Oh, don't you two look so cute!" Brooke gushed, glancing at Jamie and Rusty through her rear-view mirror.  
"Mom," Jamie groaned through gritted teeth.  
"Oh, sorry, honey," Brooke apologized. "I forgot." She smiled. "So what's your name?"  
"I'm Rusty," she replied. "Rusty McCartney."  
"Nice to meet you, Rusty. I'm Brooke English, Jamie's mom."  
"So I gathered." Rusty smiled.  
There was an awkward silence. Luckily, before anyone had to say anything, they pulled up in front of Jamie's school. Rusty and Jamie climbed out as quickly as they could.  
"Have fun, kids! Don't drink too much punch!" Brooke called. Jamie blushed and grabbed Rusty by the wrist.  
"C'mon," he muttered. He dragged her inside, trying to get to the gym before anyone saw him.  
"God, you nearly pulled my arm out of the socket!" Rusty exclaimed, rubbing her wrist once he had let go. "What was that about?"  
"My mom is sort of, um, embarrassing," he admitted.  
"Whose isn't?" Rusty shrugged. "C'mon, the dance has already started." She pushed the door open. The gym was dark, with red, blue and green lights dancing about, creating a colorful effect on the walls and floor. There was cheap crepe paper strewn about, and a disco ball hung from the center of the room. The DJ was stationed in the far left corner, playing a fast song to get the party going.  
"Wow… they've outdone themselves…" Jamie muttered.  
Jamie and Rusty went over to the refreshment table, where some of Jamie's friends and their girlfriends were.  
"Hey, Jamie," said the redheaded Kevin. His girlfriend, Brittany, clung to Kevin protectively at the sight of Rusty.  
"Hey, Kevin, hey, Michael," Jamie said to his friends. Shayla giggled and flipped her hair.  
"Who is this sexay lady?" Michael asked as he ran his eyes up and down Rusty's body. She scowled, but he didn't notice.  
"This is Rusty McCartney," Jamie said. "She's my date."  
"She new?" Kevin asked.  
"Yeah, she moved here a couple weeks ago," Jamie replied, but that's all he could fit in, because the song ended and the DJ's voice boomed through the speakers.  
"Hey, all you cats and chicks, I'm Supah Dave, and I'm here to get this partay started!" he announced in a low, suave tone. "Need a request, just groove your way up on here and tell me, and I'll play it for you. First off, we're going to start with a Snowball."  
_Oh, grand_, Jamie thought. There was nothing he hated more than a Snowball. A Snowball was where the DJ played a slow song, and a couple started slow-dancing, and when the DJ said, "Snowball," they would split up and start dancing with other people. Repeat until everyone is dancing.  
Jamie looked at Rusty pleadingly.  
"Oh, don't worry," she said, recognizing the expression on his face. "Snowballs aren't my thing." Supah Dave selected Kevin and Brittany to be the starter couple, and began playing the song. It was "A Thousand Miles," by Vanessa Carlton. Rusty gasped. "Oh, Jamie… this is my favorite song…"  
Jamie sighed. "Oh, all right," he gave in. He grabbed her hand and led her to the middle of the floor. He placed his hands on her waist as she put hers around his neck. She began singing along softly to the song.  
"And now I wonder, if I could fall, into the sky, do you think time, would pass me by, and I know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just, see you…"  
"Snowball!" Supah Dave announced. But Jamie and Rusty had no intention of switching partners. They were perfectly comfortable in each other's arms. _What the fluck?_ Jamie asked himself. _Maybe I'm sick… yeah, that's it… I gotta ask Mom to take my temperature after this dance…_  
Jamie rolled his eyes as two boys waltzed past, laughing as people pointed at them and wrongly accused them of being gay.  
"Snowball!"  
"Jamie," Rusty said softly.  
"Hmm?"  
"Can we go outside? Its hot in here," she murmured.  
"Sure." They broke apart and started towards the back doors, which led to the football field. Rusty took his hand, which made his heart leap.  
_God… now I'm having heart seizures… something is really wrong with me…_  
The two sat down in the grass on the edge of the football field and watched the sun set behind the horizon. Suddenly, something came over Jamie and he leaned over to Rusty, placing a soft, passionate kiss on her lips. He didn't know what he was doing until he had done it.  
_Oh God… did I just do that?_ He surveyed her expressionless face while million thoughts raced through his head at once. _Oh no, she's gonna hate me forever… what if she thinks I'm a bad kisser? Oh God, oh God, oh God…_  
However, Rusty said nothing and only returned his kiss.  
As surprised as Jamie was, he could only feeling joy. He couldn't explain it – a couple of days ago, he'd hated her like she was the most annoying thing he'd ever set eyes on, and now, he was kissing her.  
The two spent the rest of the night out on the football field, kissing and enjoying each other's company.

a/n: _Sweet, no? I just had to get the fluffiness going before it drove me insane…_


End file.
